Integrated simulation of multi-stage hydraulic fracturing in unconventional reservoirs

Tang, Huiying; Winterfeld, Philip H.; Wu, Yu‐Shu; Huang, Zhaoqin; Di, Yuan; Pan, Zhengfu; Zhang, Juncheng

doi:10.1016/j.jngse.2016.11.018

Cited by 44 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Moreover, the BEM has higher accuracy in calculating the fracture aperture and stresses than has the FEM and is applicable for predicting fracture propagation with complex topologies. These clear advantages have made the BEM popular in modeling fracture growth in 2‐D (Cheng et al, 2020; Hou et al, 2016; Olson, 2004), planar 3‐D (Tang et al, 2016; Zhang et al, 2017), nonplanar 2.5‐D (Kresse et al, 2013; Weng et al, 2011), and nonplanar 3‐D geometries (Castonguay et al, 2013; Cherny et al, 2016; Kumar & Ghassemi, 2018; Shen & Shi, 2019; Tang et al, 2019; Thomas et al, 2020b). In most of the extant literature, fluid exchange between the matrix and the fracture, and fluid flow in the matrix, is either simplified or neglected via assuming an impermeable matrix or employing the 1‐D leak‐off model suggested by Carter (1957).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydromechanical Modeling of Nonplanar Three‐Dimensional Fracture Propagation Using an Iteratively Coupled Approach

Firoozabadi

Zhang

2020

JGR Solid Earth

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Accurate numerical modeling of fracture propagation and deflection in porous media is important in the development of georesources. To this end, we propose a novel modeling framework to simulate nonplanar three‐dimensional fracture growth within poroelastic media, using an iteratively coupled approach based on time‐/scale‐dependent fracture stiffness. In this approach, the propagating fractures are explicitly tracked and fitted at each growth step using triangular elements that are independent of the matrix discretized by hexahedral grids. The finite volume/finite element method is employed to solve the hydromechanical system, based on the embedded discrete fracture model. The calculated pressure in fractures and the stress state of the host grid of the embedded fractures constitute the boundary conditions for the boundary element method. The boundary element method module, in turn, renders the evolving fracture stiffness and aperture for the finite volume/finite element method module. Finally, the total stresses and the fracture tip displacements are computed at the end of each time step to estimate the velocity and direction of newly created fractures ahead of the fracture tip. The proposed model is first validated against analytical solutions. Then, in three different examples, results are shown from the fracture's footprint under layered stress conditions, simultaneous propagation of two nonplanar three‐dimensional fractures, and the mechanical interaction of en échelon arrays. This work presents an efficient framework to simulate propagation of nonplanar fractures and establishes the foundation to build an integrated simulator for fracture propagation, proppant transport, and production forecasting in unconventional formations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydromechanical Modeling of Nonplanar Three‐Dimensional Fracture Propagation Using an Iteratively Coupled Approach

Firoozabadi

Zhang

2020

JGR Solid Earth

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“…A variety of approaches are used to model the growth of 3D discrete fractures, including the finite element method (FEM) [14,15], extended finite element method (XFEM) [16][17][18], boundary element method (BEM) [19,20], displacement discontinuity method (DDM) [21,22], phase field method [23], and the discrete element method (DEM) [24][25][26][27]. Hybrid methods incorporate multiple methods to handle different parts of the implementation, such as solving for stress and displacement in the solid using the FEM, and managing geometry using the DEM [28][29][30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth of three-dimensional fractures, arrays, and networks in brittle rocks under tension and compression

Thomas

Paluszny

Zimmerman

2020

Computers and Geotechnics

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Concurrent growth of multiple fractures in brittle rock is a complex process due to mechanical interaction effects. Fractures can amplify or shield stress on other fracture tips, and stress field perturbations change continuously during fracture growth. A three-dimensional, finite-element based, quasi-static growth algorithm is validated for mixed mode fracture growth in linear elastic media, and is used to investigate concurrent fracture growth in arrays and networks.Growth is governed by fracture tip stress intensity factors, which quantify the energy contributing to fracture extension, and are validated against analytical solutions for fractures under compression and tension, demonstrating that growth is accurate even in coarsely meshed domains. Isolated fracture geometries are compared to wing cracks grown in experiments on brittle media. A novel formulation of a Paris-type extension criterion is introduced to handle concurrent fracture growth. Fracture and volume-based growth rate exponents are shown to modify fracture interaction patterns. A geomechanical discrete fracture network is generated and examined during its growth, whose properties are the direct result of the imposed anisotropic stress field and mutual fracture interaction. Two-dimensional cut-plane views of the network demonstrate how fractures would appear in outcrops, and show the variability in fracture traces arising during interaction and growth.

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“…Its application can be extended to reservoir optimization [28] as well as uncertainty qualification [29]. It can also be used to the integration of the simulation of hydraulic fracturing and reservoir simulation [30], in which the fracture front is the highly nonlinear region.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fully-Coupled Multi-Physical Simulation with Physics-Based Nonlinearity-Elimination Preconditioned Inexact Newton Method for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Tang¹,

Wang²,

Yin³

et al. 2019

CiCP

Self Cite

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In this paper, we introduce a physics-based nonlinear preconditioned Inexact Newton Method (INB) for the multiphysical simulation of fractured reservoirs. Instead of solving the partial differential equations (PDE) exactly, Inexact Newton method finds a direction for the iteration and solves the equations inexactly with fewer iterations. However, when the equations are not smooth enough, especially when local discontinuities exits, and when proper preconditioning operations are not adopted, the Inexact Newton method may be slow or even stagnant. As pointed out by Keyes et al. [1], multi-physical numerical simulation faces several challenges, one of which is the local-scale nonlinearity and discontinuity. In this work, we have proposed and studied a nonlinear preconditioner to improve the performance of Inexact Newton Method. The nonlinear preconditioner is essentially a physics-based strategy to adaptively identify and eliminate the highly nonlinear zones. The proposed algorithm has been implemented into our fully coupled, fully implicit THM reservoir simulator (Wang et al. [2, 3]) to study the effects of cold water injection on fractured petroleum reservoirs. The results of this work show that after the implementation of this nonlinear preconditioner, the iterative solver has become significantly more robust and efficient.

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Integrated simulation of multi-stage hydraulic fracturing in unconventional reservoirs

Cited by 44 publications

References 34 publications

Hydromechanical Modeling of Nonplanar Three‐Dimensional Fracture Propagation Using an Iteratively Coupled Approach

Hydromechanical Modeling of Nonplanar Three‐Dimensional Fracture Propagation Using an Iteratively Coupled Approach

Growth of three-dimensional fractures, arrays, and networks in brittle rocks under tension and compression

Fully-Coupled Multi-Physical Simulation with Physics-Based Nonlinearity-Elimination Preconditioned Inexact Newton Method for Enhanced Oil Recovery

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